furnace uses three times as much oil

Steamhead

to see if the two boilers are identical. If the second-floor unit is bigger, it may have once fed third-floor radiators that were replaced with electric baseboard. If this is the case, the boiler is now oversized for the load, which can cause it to short-cycle and waste oil.

If the steam mains feeding the second floor are not vented properly, the boiler will have to work harder to get the heat to the radiators. This would also waste fuel.

If the steam mains are not insulated, you'll lose a lot of heat into the basement which will waste fuel.

Sounds like you need a good steam man, and we have plenty of those. Try the Find a Professional page of this site.

<A HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=157&Step=30">To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Professional"</A>

Katherine Traphagen

furnace uses three times as much oil


Two years ago, I purchased an older house (1898). There are two oil furnaces (steam), which appear exactly alike. One heats the first floor, and the other heats the second floor. The third floor is primarily electric heat, but has one small radiator, I believe the second floor furnace heats it. The furnace heating the second floor uses almost three times as much oil as the first floor furnace. I've had maintenance and cleaning done, had the chimney swept,and insulated (blown-in fiberglass) the house. I don't smell or see an oil leak in the basement. I've checked for open windows and drafts, and found none. I've asked my oil company, my plumber, my contractor, and everyone else who'll listen. What could be wrong?

Katie Traphagen
Allston, MA
k_traphagen@yahoo.com

Al Corelli - Agix Associates

Is it a furnace, or a boiler?

EBEBRATT-Ed

Something is definatly wrong. The second floor has warm floors below and above. It should be the floor that uses the least amount of heat.

Find a good professional that knows steam.

ed wallace

furnace uses more oil

has anyone checked the connected load of the boiler and nozzle size go to find a proffesional on this site and get a pro to look at your systems

sy308_2

I wanted to point out something that might be contributing to higher heating bills, but is not necessarily the direct problem with your situation. It is a fairly recognized fact that fiberglass insulation (especially blown in attic) loses up to about half of its R-value in cold conditions. Research shows that as temperature drops, starting with about 50F, convection currents allow heat to rise and cold to fall within fiberglass insulsation. This allows for acceleration of heat loss out of proportion than almost any other material because it is not thermally stable. Testing of the properties is generally rated in closed condition and this property is only measurable when tested with cold air on the outer surface. Therefore, you might have installed R-30 in your space but when it is zero outside, that insulation has lost its effectiveness and is now closer to R-18. The reason I tell you this is that typical homes lose most of their heat through the attic but large upward convective currents with in the building. Fortunately, there is something you can do to make attic insulation thermally stable. One can add a barrier of blown in cellulose OVER any fiberglass in attic spaces to greatly improve the insulative properties. Again, while I do not think the reason for the 3X heat cost is insulation alone, I do believe you probably have some contribution and it might be more significant than you think. After the heating system is checked out, you might consider modification of the insulation. One can do cost recovery calculations based on your current fuel usage based on the additional insulation quite easily. Good luck.

Alan_11

I would check the oil line to the burner if it is under the floor. You could have a hole in it and and gravity is draining the tank. Also the boiler could be leaking and going up the chimney as steam. If you need to add water more frequently to this boiler,find out why.